EXCLUSIVE: The Sundance Institute has named the fellows selected for the 2025 Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive programs, which provide emerging artists with a space to develop their first and second indie features.
Lab fellows include Leo Aguirre (Verano), Chheangkea (Little Phnom Penh), Andrea Ellsworth & Kasey Elise Walker (The Dispute), Roberto Fatal (Electric Homies), Diffan Sina Norman (Sitora), Alexandra Qin (Thirstygirl), Chloe Sarbib (Trou Normand), Yelizaveta Smith (In Vacuo), Katla Sólnes (Eruption) and Lana Wilson (Back Seat).
The Intensive fellows are Bethiael Alemayoh (I Didn’t Forget You), Sammi Cannold & Safi Rauf (The Homecoming), Karishma Dev Dube (Strangers), Nate Gualtieri (Queerbait), Ward Kamel (If I Die in America), Shehrezad Maher (Theory of Colors), Joanne Mony Park (The Windiest Day), Alisha Tejpal & Mireya Martinez (For the Eyes Are Blind to the Stairwells), Catalina Torres (Anoche Creí Que Nadaba) and Melina Valdez (Saca Tu Lengua (Stick Out Your Tongue)).
The 10 projects bound for the Screenwriters Lab were selected from over 3,380 submissions. The program is set to take place at the Sundance Mountain Resort in Utah from January 18–22, under the leadership of Michelle Satter (Founding Senior Director, Sundance Institute’s Artist Programs), Ilyse McKimmie (Deputy Director, Feature Film Program), Artistic Director Scott Frank and Co-Artistic Director Jessie Nelson. Those on board to guide this year’s writers as creative advisors include Ritesh Batra, Scott Z. Burns, Linda Yvette Chávez, Marielle Heller, Nicole Kassell, Walter Mosley, Nicole Perlman, Howard A. Rodman, Dana Stevens, Tyger Williams, Virgil Williams, and Doug Wright. In addition, advisors Joan Tewkesbury and Bill Wheeler led pre-lab writing workshops with the fellows.
“We are honored to welcome a new group of visionary filmmakers who have created powerful, culture-changing stories through their work,” said Satter. “The Screenwriters Lab marks the start of our in-depth development process with these 11 fiercely talented writer/directors. We look forward to seeing their projects flourish at the labs and will continue to support their filmmaking journey creatively and strategically as they move forward to get their films made and captivate audiences around the world.”
Bringing together 12 writers developing their first fiction features, the Screenwriters Intensive will be held online from March 6–7.
Said McKimmie of participants: “We feel privileged to bring together this remarkable group of storytellers, each of whom has written a uniquely compelling screenplay that connects us to fascinating characters and worlds we haven’t often seen represented on screen. These are singular voices telling urgent stories, and the intensive is the first step in our long-term commitment to supporting them realizing their visions.”
Sundance’s Feature Film Program Labs have supported and championed emerging independent filmmakers for over four decades. This year, two projects supported by the program will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival — which is pressing ahead, in-person and online, amid the L.A. wildfires — Rashad Frett’s Ricky and Isaiah Saxon’s The Legend of Ochi, along with Gregory Nava’s El Norte in the From the Collection section. In addition, FFP alumni with films premiering at the festival include Andrew Ahn, Cristina Costantini, Cherien Dabis, Alex Heller, Glenn Kaino, and Ira Sachs.
To learn more about this year’s fellows and their projects, read on.
Screenwriters Lab
Leo Aguirre with Verano (U.S.A./Mexico): An unruly teenager’s summer plans are upended when his parents decide to foster an adolescent from southern Mexico who is seeking asylum in the United States. As the two teens realize they must share more than just a bedroom, they are forced to confront their differences amid their harsh realities.
Leo Aguirre is a first-generation Mexican American filmmaker and visual artist. His work has received international recognition through film and photography projects spanning the advertising, music video, and narrative landscapes. Verano is his feature film debut.
Chheangkea with Little Phnom Penh (Cambodia/U.S.A.): Spanning over two ever-changing decades, from post–Khmer Rouge Phnom Penh to early 2000s California, a Cambodian woman grapples with her identity, family, and love amid profound cultural and historical upheavals.
Chheangkea is a Cambodia-born filmmaker based in Brooklyn. He earned a BS in architecture from MIT and an MFA in filmmaking from NYU. His short film Grandma Nai Who Played Favorites will premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. His short film Skin Can Breathe streams on Max.
Andrea Ellsworth and Kasey Elise Walker with The Dispute (U.S.A.): Two best friends from South Central seize the chance to trade in their dead-end lives in Los Angeles for a lucrative opportunity in New York. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Comedy Fellowship.
Andrea Ellsworth is an actor and writer currently in development on her first feature film, The Dispute. Currently, she can be seen starring as Deja in The Vince Staples Show on Netflix.
Kasey Elise Walker, a Black American writer-director-actress from Los Angeles, began as an actress before co-writing The Dispute. Her directorial debut, Hoop Dreams, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival after winning the Soho Script Lab.
Roberto Fatal with Electric Homies (U.S.A.): In a near-future barrio, a Two-Spirit social worker fights to preserve community and culture as thousands in their neighborhood upload themselves to a mysterious digital utopia.
Roberto Fatal is a Mestize Chicana filmmaker from Rarámuri, Genízaro, and Spanish ancestry. Their Queer, Two-Spirit identity informs the genre films they make: stories about mixed humans navigating love, community, and survival on the intersections of time, space, and culture.
Diffan Sina Norman with Sitora (Malaysia/U.S.A.): A young doctor arrives in a Malay village to establish its first health clinic, but his mandate is soon challenged by an enterprising shaman who operates a protection racket for an elusive half-man, half-tiger. Recipient of the Sundance Institute Horror Fellowship.
Diffan Sina Norman is a Malaysian Iranian filmmaker based in Northeast Texas. His short films Kekasih (2014), Benevolent Ba (2020), and Pasture Prime (2024) have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW and streamed on platforms like Showtime. He writes and directs at Rangka Pictures.
Alexandra Qin with Thirstygirl (U.S.A.): When Charlie is forced to drive her estranged younger sister cross-country to rehab, her own secret addiction comes to the surface in the most devastating and hilarious ways.
Alexandra Qin is a French Filipino Chinese writer-director with a background in software engineering and prison reform activism. Her first short film, Thirstygirl, was an official selection of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival among 50 other festivals worldwide. She is one of Vimeo’s 10 Breakout Creators of 2024.
Chloe Sarbib with Trou Normand (France/U.S.A.): When a middle-aged actress becomes obsessed with digging up a lost Vichy-era heirloom, she unearths something rotten in her family — and in herself.
Chloe Sarbib is an American and French Algerian filmmaker drawn to characters who get in their own way. Her shorts have been supported by Tribeca, the DGA Student Film Awards, and major festivals. An alum of Yale and Columbia’s film MFA, she recently directed on CW/Netflix’s In The Dark.
Yelizaveta Smith with In Vacuo (Ukraine): A young archaeologist returns to her hometown to sell her missing father’s apartment, but past and present unexpectedly change her plans.
Yelizaveta Smith is a film director and co-founder of Tabor. Her documentary School Number 3, co-directed by George Genoux, won the 2017 Berlinale Generation 14plus International Jury Grand Prix and a Special Award at HumanDOC Festival. She is a member of the Ukrainian Film Academy and European Film Academy.
Katla Sólnes with Eruption (Iceland): In the highlands of Iceland in 1972, a geologist’s wife finds her marriage tested when a wily American student arrives, stirring tensions as volatile as the volcanic landscape. Recipient of the Sundance Institute | Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship.
Katla Sólnes is an Icelandic writer-director who recently graduated with her MFA from Columbia University and has been the recipient of support from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Indian Paintbrush. She is an adjunct assistant professor in screenwriting at Columbia University.
Lana Wilson with Back Seat (U.S.A.): Maria, a single mother and immigrant, is arrested after leaving her child in the car on a cool day. Losing custody, she embarks on a legal and emotional fight to reunite with her children while grappling with her own complex experience of “good” versus “bad” motherhood, judgment, and forgiveness.
Lana Wilson is an Emmy-winning writer-director. Her acclaimed work includes After Tiller (2013 Sundance Film Festival, Emmy winner), The Departure (2017 Spirit Award nominee), Miss Americana (2020 Sundance Film Festival, Netflix), Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (2023 Sundance Film Festival, Hulu), and Look Into My Eyes (2024 Sundance Film Festival, A24).
Screenwriters Intensive
Bethiael Alemayoh with I Didn’t Forget You (U.S.A.): In 1993, a homesick young woman hopes to connect with her favorite Eritrean pop star when his tour comes to Dallas, Texas.
Bethiael Alemayoh is an Eritrean and Ethiopian American filmmaker based in Texas. Her work follows women in the midst of little misfortunes causing big emotional impacts. Her work has screened at SXSW, BlackStar, Palm Springs International Film Festival, and more. She received the 2023 Indie Memphis Black Filmmaker Residency for Screenwriting.
Sammi Cannold and Safi Rauf with The Homecoming (U.S.A.): Based on true events, The Homecoming follows Muslim aid worker Safi and his Jewish girlfriend, Sammi, whose star-crossed love faces impossible odds when Safi is taken hostage by the Taliban in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Sammi Cannold is a Broadway, film, and TV writer-director who is one of Forbes‘ 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, one of Variety‘s 10 Broadway Stars to Watch, and a Drama Desk Award winner. She’s an alum of Stanford University, Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Sundance Institute’s Theatre Lab.
Safi Rauf is a filmmaker and humanitarian who is one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Social Impact, a Tillman Scholar, a Washingtonian of the Year, and a veteran. An Afghan refugee fluent in six languages, Safi immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager and attended Georgetown University.
Karishma Dev Dube with Strangers (U.S.A./India): Pari and Tara are complete strangers, until a chance encounter on a New York City subway platform instigates inexplicable and profound connections between them. Set between New Delhi and New York, the film explores how these two women quietly unravel in tandem: with lovers, at home, and in public.
Karishma Dev Dube is an Indian filmmaker based in New York. Her short film Bittu was shortlisted for the 93rd Oscars, winning the DGA Award and Student Academy Award in 2020. She is the 2022 recipient of the Academy Gold Fellowship for Women and 2024 SFFILM Rainin Grant for screenwriting.
Nate Gualtieri with Queerbait (U.S.A.): In this erotic thriller, Ezra, a precocious transgender student at Dartmouth, is happy to see his work pique the interest of a tenured classics professor. But when his mentorship starts to cross physical boundaries, Ezra is forced to make a choice: protect his academic future, or protect his dignity?
Nate Gualtieri is a Boston-born writer-director whose credits include Gotham Knights on the CW and the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award–winning docu-drama Desire Lines. A Film Independent alumnus, he was recently selected for the Proof of Concept Fellowship in partnership with Netflix and Dirty Films.
Ward Kamel with If I Die in America (U.S.A.):After the sudden death of his immigrant husband, a young American man’s tenuous relationship with his foreign Muslim in-laws reaches a breaking point as he tries to fit into the funeral they’ve arranged in the Middle East.
Ward Kamel is a Syrian filmmaker based in Brooklyn. He is an Academy Nicholl fellow. His directing work has screened at SXSW, Palm Springs International ShortFest, Hollyshorts, and NewFest and earned him a Vimeo Breakout Creator title. He is an NYU graduate and was the commencement speaker for his class.
Shehrezad Maher with Theory of Colors (U.S.A.): As a redevelopment plan threatens a home marked by a long-buried tragedy, a reclusive teenager struggles to piece together a past still too vivid for her avoidant father. When the world they’ve shut out begins to intrude, continuing as passive spectators of their lives becomes untenable.
Shehrezad Maher was raised in Karachi, Pakistan, and is the recipient of the Pew Fellowship, HamptonsFilm Melissa Mathison Award, CineStory Hagan-Hicks Underrepresented Women’s Voices Scholarship, and grants from the Islamic Scholarship Fund and Davey Foundation. She has an MFA from Yale, where she won the Blair Dickinson Memorial Prize.
Joanne Mony Park with The Windiest Day (U.S.A.): Two Korean women, Naru and Deogi, reconnect during a night working as surrogate drivers in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. Over the course of a single night, they search for Naru’s lost dog and race to pay off Deogi’s debt, all while they confront past mistakes and unresolved emotions from their past.
Joanne Mony Park is a Korean American writer-director. Mony’s films have screened at Tribeca, Slamdance, and Edinburgh International Film Festival. She has participated in AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women+, TorinoFilmLab, and the CJ & TIFF K-Story Fund mentorship program, where she won the CJ & TIFF K-Story Fund Award.
Alisha Tejpal and Mireya Martinez with For the Eyes Are Blind to the Stairwells (India): In an affluent Mumbai apartment complex, the lives of residents and staff intertwine as hidden desires, social tensions, and a mysterious death unravel their carefully maintained façades.
Alisha Tejpal is an Indian filmmaker whose practice spans fiction and nonfiction. Her acclaimed short Lata was featured in Indiewire’s list of best films at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was acquired by Mubi, ARTE, and the Criterion Channel. Tejpal was a 2023 MacDowell Fellow and holds an MFA from CalArts.
Mireya Martinez is a Mexican American filmmaker, writer, and producer interested in telling stories that hold the magnitude and contradictions of our humanity. Her work has screened at the Sundance Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, and True/False, among others. She is a MacDowell Fellow with an MFA from CalArts.
Catalina Torres with Anoche Creí Que Nadaba (Uruguay/Paraguay): Vera and her grandmother Tere spend the last summer days together, but this vacation is different: Tere insists on caring for her best friend, Elsa. As tourists leave, what remains unspoken has the same effect as the heat: It suffocates and keeps you up at night.
Catalina Torres is a Uruguayan artist, writer, and director. After studying documentary filmmaking in Argentina, she completed a master’s in visual arts in the Netherlands. Her first fiction film, Anoche Creí Que Nadaba, is currently in an advanced stage of development.
Melina Valdez with Saca Tu Lengua (Stick Out Your Tongue) (U.S.A.): The bond between an immigrant family and their American in-laws is tested when a gun collection mysteriously disappears during a loved one’s funeral reception.
Melina Valdez is a writer, director, and cinematographer based in New York City. Valdez is currently in development for a feature film tentatively titled Saca Tu Lengua. The proof of concept, Weapons and Their Names, had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
